Charlie
by Blue Stem Cell
Summary: Harry meets a very remarkable little boy who will never know the pleasures of Hogwarts. But this little squib has a far better plan for his future. CatCF reference.


**A Harry Potter One Shot**

**Title:** Charlie

**Summary: **Harry meets a very remarkable little boy who will never know the pleasures of Hogwarts. But this little squib has a far better plan for his future.

x

St. Mungo's could be a frightful place at times. Oh it was filled with wondrous people who could accomplish the most life rewarding spells on the planet. However compared with birth, he would rather take a bludger to the head.

Harry Potter was a new husband, a good husband he liked to think but the one thing that had scared him most of all was what he had done to his wife. The pain must have been agonizing, hours in that same bed with something alive trying to push it's way out of the copper haired woman he loved.

Though when the child, covered in everything possible had been placed gently upon her chest, the man could not think of anything more tranquil. That guilt rode harder in him still and after a brief moment of lips pressed again Ginny's and a finger upon his baby boy's, he excused himself from the room.

"Don't worry about him." Reassured the midwife, taking the baby a moment to clear his little face. "Men never do quite make it with all of their own stomach contents intact." She gave off a sturdy laugh that all big women seem to posses and Ginny contemplated with a tried proud smile. She understood, or at least she believed she did.

"Never…never liked leaving love bites, either." She said sleepily and watched as her midwife beamed at her and placed the squirming baby into the cot next to his mother.

Harry had collapsed outside on one of the plush green chair; his shaking hands covered his face as he let out a breathy laugh. Oh he knew he should have been in there with Ginny and he knew very well that his mother law would round on him for it. Though, his wife knew him and she knew that for a few moments he needed to simply sit back and take in the day's events.

What would they call him? Who would he take after and what colour hair was his child to grow into? They where the first set of questions but then another set came quickly to mind and he thought about his son's first day at school. Would he lead his own name or would the burden of being Harry Potters son linger with him, as his "boy-who-lived" status haunted him.

Those questions seemed to etched upon his face and he slowly turned his head to watch a form sit down next to him. Up into the seat he had squirmed and when he was satisfied he turn and plonked his little bum right down into the cushions. The child looked to be about eight or so with blonde hair peeking out from under a woollen hat he had seen muggle children wearing of late. In fact, his whole attire shouted muggle at him from his little beanie hat to the t-shirt with "Charlie and The chocolate factory" written across it. It had a little motif of actors he had seen recently plastered across billboards and bus stations and even the T.V he had persuaded Ginny to let him install.

The little boy swung his legs back and forth and Harry noticed the little set of green converse and untied shoelace. He was pleasantly surprised that the shoes where STILL in fashion all these years later.

"My uncles having a baby." The little boy said quietly, pressing his lips together tightly as if he had not spoken and Harry peered down at him, a small smile coming to his own face. He knew little children shouldn't speak to strangers but the child intrigued him.

"And have you come with your mummy and daddy to see your new cousin?" He asked, it was the first thing that popped into his head but little boy shook his head and then looked up at Harry with bright blue eye's.

"No. I live with my uncle and aunt." He said, a tiny little smile playing with the side of his lips and Harry's eyebrows arched in a pleasant way. He had not thought about his own aunt and uncle for the longest time. It was hard to speak to them, even though he was now an adult, married and with a child of his own. Dudley was more tolerant towards his cousin but old loyalty's where hard to break and sadly he was still at mummy Petunia's beck and call.

"So your aunt is having he baby?" He asked but this was the wizadering world, anything could be happening. The boy, to Harry's slight relief, nodded his head and turned around in his seat. He was small enough to raise his legs up and wrap his arms tightly around them, looking up at Harry.

"How about you?" He asked quietly and Harry wondered why his voice didn't go any higher. Perhaps it was the "keep quiet" sign upon the doors that kept turning their attention to noise and shhing them.

"My wife. She just gave birth to our son. Our first son." He hoped of many but possibly not as many as Ginny's brothers, that may have been a little too many. The little boy's mouth formed an "O" and he rested his chin upon the top of his knee's.

"What's your name?" The little boy asked and Harry could consciously feel the old scar upon his head. Not that it ever tingled anymore; it was simply a part of him.

"Harry." Said the man and as an after thought he held his hand out for the boy and who simply peered at it. It took him a few moments and looked over his shoulder before peering back and shaking the tips of the man's fingers.

"I'm Charlie. Like in the story." He pushed his knee's down in the tree and pointed proudly to his chocolate brown t-shirt with a wide green. Harry gave an amused sort of sound and gave a nod of his head.

"Don't you mean like the movie?" He asked, the boy shrugged and then gave a nod of his head.

"The Charlie from both I supposed. I like the story 'cos I'm called Charlie too and Mr. Wonka teaches the bad children too be good and Mr. Wonka also gains a family."

The was not quite the way Harry remembered it but he humoured Charlie and a smiled at him with a nod of his head.  
"And Charlie got to live in that big factory in the end, didn't he." Said Harry but the shook his head. "Not straight away. The family accidently got launched in the Earths orbit and the government think they're aliens and want to blow them up and it's…it's very good. You should read it too your little boy."

Harry gave a nod of his head; perhaps he would a little smile slipped into place on his face.

"You know what the factory reminds me off?" Asked Harry and the boy gave him a wide blue stir and shook his head.

"Hogwarts." He said as low and as mystical as he could in hopes to spark the boy's interest in an opposite direction. Harry did not get his desired affect though and Charlie rested his chin back upon his knee's and looked sadly at the arm of the chair.

"I'll never get to see Hogwarts." Sadly the boy looked back up at Harry and he pondered on what on earth the child could mean.

"Are you going to one of the other wizarding schools?"

"No." Said Charlie. "I'm a squib."

A silence seemed to fill the corridor and he could hear the faint sounds of baby's crying and stirring in their sleep.

"Oh."

"But that's okie!" Charlie suddenly exclaimed and he kneeled up next to Harry, leaning on the side of the plush green chair and leaned into the wizard. "Cos when my baby cousin goes of to Hogwarts, he can come home and tell me all about it and I can teach him to make chocolate!"

Harry leaned back slightly with a grin and he supposed as the child's favourite story involved a chocolate maker, that would be his life's ambition. "And it'll be magic, just like Wily Wonka's. The kind of magic hat you don't have too, it's just there. You don't even need a wand to make it!" The boy grinned as he leaned into Harry and the man pushed glasses back with an equal beam of a smile. "That would be a great piece of magic indeed."

"Charlie! Charlie what are you doing, I told you not to bother people." A flustered looking man came from the end of he corridor and he looked just as flabbergasted as he himself had done minutes before.

"It's okie. He wasn't bothering me." Harry said with a little smile as he stood up and it was only when the man approached him did his eye's widen ever so slightly.

"Mr…Mr.Potter! It's an honor sir, really it is. Charlie stop bouncing in that chair!" The little blonde boy jumped down from his seat and grabbed up his uncles hand. Not that he had any idea who Harry truly as, just a nice man who had taken the time to speak to him.

"Uncle Bilious, this is Harry and he just had a baby like you and aunty Amy too." He babbled excitedly swinging from the man's hand and he cleared his throat with a little flustered smile.

"Congratulations Mr. Potter! I had no idea." Harry had no idea who the man was either; only that he was young looking with a kind face that reminded him of his old school friend, Neville.

"Thank you, and too you too." Harry held out his hand and shook the mans hand, and the uncle seemed rather flattered that Harry Potter was speaking to him, of all people.

"A son. My er…my wife just gave birth to a son." A sudden high-pitched noise came from Charlie and he started to dance around his uncle's legs before shooting of past Harry. "YIPPIE!" He declared and the shhing plaques hissed at him. The boy suddenly stopped his cheering and began to tip toe with his fingers pressed up against his lips. "Yippie." He cheered a little quiet and his uncle watched his small form, smiling softly and sadly at the same time.

"Charlie was telling me about how he wants his own chocolate factory."

"Oh that." Bilious had an amused expression on his face and he nodded his head. "Every since my wife decided to cheer the boy up with a story, he's had nothing in his head but chocolate and the baby."

"Since he found out he was a squib?" Harry asked and the man peered at him with a creased brow and he gave a small shake of his head. "No. He's always known he was a squib, the whole family did. My brother was a great wizard; too bad his spells liked to backfire. Took the whole house and his wife with him. Charlie's been with us ever since." Harry could tell from the man's voice that he was fond of the little boy; he seemed so full of life despite his earlier quietness and the man expected the shhing plaques where to blame.

"I'm sorry for your loss." Said Harry sincerely and the other wizard simply smiled at him and nodded his head. "As am I. Well, I better get back to my wife. She's a muggle you see and well…" He gave a strained laugh and Harry knew exactly what he was feeling. He wanted to suddenly be back with his own wife and his little miracle bundle and the two bid each other a do. Though Harry had a feeling that he would be seeing the little boy again.

"Hey you." Ginny said with a sleepy yawn when Harry finally came back into the room. The unruly black haired man simply beamed at her and scoped her into his arms the best he could manage and pressed his lip up against her forehead. His glasses glad face peered over into the little cot where his newborn son lay and he smiled, going to scoop him up into his arms.

He was such a tiny little thing with a small tuft of dark reddish hair. Harry supposed there was no getting away from the roughness Weasley genes.

"James." He whispered and his wife smiled sleepily as she watched her husband and new son. It was peace and quiet before the rabble would ultimately turn up.

"I will always love you. No matter what you do with your life or how it plans out. You may be turn out to be the greatest wizard on earth or maybe…maybe you'll own a sweet shop and that'll be just fine with me."

**A/N: I watched Harry Potter and Charlie and the Chocolate factory right after each other. Funny how these things play out. **


End file.
